"Pete C." wrote in message
...

BillM wrote:

Wallowed out tie rod end hole on a steering
knuckle on a 4WD John Deere tractor. $1800
part. Got a new tie rod, trying to figure
out
the taper so I can get a reamer. It's a ZF
front
axle, so it's probably metric. Does anybody
KNOW what the taper is? Looks really close
to 1 in 12, but is it?

Source for a left hand spiral right hand
reamer?

Thanks,

Bill

Had the same problem on an old Deere backhoe,
though it was a $165 part.
I put the knuckle on the mill and bored out
the worn out section with a
1" end mill. Put some 1.25" bar in the lathe
and turned to match the 1".
Drilled and bored the matching taper into the
bar (don't recall what it
was). Cut the insert to length, pressed it
into the knuckle, welded both
ends, ground flush and it worked good as new.

Thanks Pete---If it was a one time thing that's
what I would do too. The outfit I work for
has a half dozen of these mechanical front drive
tractors. At 2 per tractor, and as big a
pain in the ass as it is to get the knuckle off
(drop the wheel/tire and then a planetary
gearbox), I figure that a reamer will pay for
itself quickly. Weld it up, grind/drill it
close,
ream to finish---all on the tractor. Sure wish
you could recall what that taper was!
I've measured it three times, and it comes out
at just barely over 1" in 12". That's on the
male tie rod end. Do they do a crush lock on
those? Is the hole a true 1:12? The
Metric tapers I find reference to on tie rod
ends are 1:10, and it's not that.

Bill